Finding specific things

Finding large files on a Mac

Updated 2026-07-31 · 5 min read

Your disk is full and macOS will not say why. Four ways to get a straight answer, in order of how quickly they give you one.

1. Finder search with a size filter

⌘F in Finder, set scope to This Mac, then click + and choose File Size → is greater than → 1 GB.

Fast to reach, but it will not show you files inside packages or ~/Library, which is where a surprising share of large files live.

2. Storage settings

System Settings → General → Storage. The categories are a rough map, and Documents → Large Files lists the biggest offenders with a delete button.

Good for a quick clear-out. Poor for understanding, because the categories are broad and some space is attributed to "Other" or "System Data" with no detail.

3. The Terminal

Everything over 1 GB in your home folder:

find ~ -type f -size +1G -exec ls -lh {} \; 2>/dev/null | awk '{print $5, $9}'

The twenty largest folders:

du -h -d 2 ~ 2>/dev/null | sort -hr | head -20

Exhaustive and honest — it looks at everything, including hidden folders. Also slow, because it reads the whole tree each time.

4. A filename index with a size filter

If a tool already holds every file's size in memory, "everything over 1 GB, sorted descending" is a filter rather than a scan. In Everywhere that is size:>1gb, answered in milliseconds, across every volume including ones you have unplugged.

What is usually taking the space

• Xcode — ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData and old simulators, tens of gigabytes
• node_modules — many small files rather than one big one, but it adds up
• Mail downloads — ~/Library/Mail, years of attachments
• Photos — originals plus edited versions, inside the library package
• Old .dmg and .pkg installers in Downloads
• Time Machine local snapshots, which macOS keeps on the boot disk

Common questions

Why does Storage settings show a large 'Other' or 'System Data' category?

It collects caches, logs, local Time Machine snapshots and anything macOS cannot classify. du in the Terminal is the reliable way to see what it actually is.

Is it safe to delete DerivedData?

Yes, if you use Xcode. It is a build cache and Xcode regenerates it. The first build afterwards will be slow.